The Spiritual Side of Our COVID19 Pandemic

I don’t know about where you live, but here in the mid sized city I call home, we have now been in a pandemic state of emergency since March 17, 2020. Slowly, and possibly too quickly, our Province and city are beginning to “reopen” businesses and services with the intention of, as they have said, “get the economy going again”. It’s important to remember that businesses are being given permission to reopen, not because it is necessarily safe to do so, but because we have an economy that our government is worried about.

Illustration by Miranda McGuire

Returning to work and aiming to resume “normalcy” is a hot topic that brings out the anger, frustration, and fear in people. Some fear for their lives, others fear for their bank accounts.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21

Further into this chapter of Matthew Jesus tells us not worry about our lives: what we’ll eat, drink, or wear; but this is often easier said than done. I don’t want people to think that they are faithless if they have concerns about the essentials for life and living. People are worried about something during this pandemic. It might be their family, their health, their finances, their employment status, the house or rent, and the state of the world.

I don’t believe God is going to punish us or turn a blind eye towards our pandemic problems. He is our father, he understands our fears. What I do think God will be concerned about is how we handle these fears.

It’s important not to neglect our spiritual self during these troubling times. When we feel fear, don’t forget to take a moment to stop and ask yourself, “Why am I afraid”, “What am I afraid of” and “How am I handling this fear”.

Excessive worry and fear cloud our judgment, leading to poor decision making and additional stress. The key point to the Do Not Worry passage in Matthew is found in verse 27 “Can any one of your by worrying add a single hour to your life?” We know the answer is, no. This is why excessive worry is a waste.

If you’re wondering what we should be doing instead of worrying, here’s what Jesus tells us is a better choice, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

How do we seek first God’s kingdom during this COVID19 pandemic? Here are some ways.

Seek and speak truth: Don’t spread conspiracy theories, fake news and false information about COVID19 on your social media pages or in person. Be a person who speaks truth and knowledge.

Check on Yourself and Others: Do a self examen every day. Things change rapidly during a pandemic and it’s easy for us to become frustrated, angry, nervous, or confused. Check your feelings on a regular basis. Ask yourself, “how am I really doing?” Be honest with yourself. Check on your friends and family. See how they are doing? They might be coping better or worse than you, what matters is that you care about them. You don’t have to “fix” someone or cheer them up, all that is required is for you to be present when you do reach out to them.

Pray: Pray about what to do, how to live a life under lockdown, quarantine, sweaty masks, and social distancing. Ask God to guide your decisions and next steps. Don’t make any major decisions without praying first. Trust that God will guide you in the right direction even when if it means taking a difficult, unpredictable path.

Acknowledge the Experts: God most certainly wants us to trust him and activate our faith, but nothing makes a Christian looks more careless than dismissing experts who know what they’re talking about. Science is not the same as religion, scientists are supposed to develop new theories based on new and emerging evidence. As a nouveau corona virus scientists and the medical community are still learning about it; let them do their job, they know more and have more information than we do. God is not a fan of pridefulness. When the experts say there can be no church gatherings, there’s a reason, they are not on a mission to attack or destroy the church. Remember how Christians often say the church is more than a building? Well, now is the time to prove it.

Embrace technology: By embracing technology you can view Sunday sermons online, have virtual bible studies, and visit each other via apps like Zoom, Google, Facebook Chat, and Skype (to name a few). By embracing technology you can continue “meeting” together. It often feels more pleasant to meet in person, but for now, this is the next best thing.

Seek Help: God didn’t design humans to do things alone. If you need help with anything find a way. The need might be helping your kids with school work, learning how to use an online tool, or finding a place that provides help in the form of food, shelter, and finances. Whatever the need is there might be someone out there who can meet it. Be brave and put the word out that you need some help.

Work on personal development: Allow this pandemic to build your resiliency and character. Are you an impatient person? Try learning to be more patient while waiting in the long lines designed around social distancing and store capacity. Maybe you are not comfortable being alone. Now is a great time to learn to enjoy your own company. Do you have issues with being controlling? Well, this pandemic is a great way to learn that you can’t control everything; things have been changing constantly and it is mostly out of our control. Whatever plans you made a couple months ago are now uncertain.

Whatever your circumstances are during this global pandemic, please remain safe and remember we can survive this if we all work together.